A photo of two bucks credited to Eleanor Bailey appears in The Almanac this week with the caption, "Deer continue to make their presence known in Mt. Lebanon." I'm concerned that the assumption being given here is that the deer killing would eradicate all deer in Mt. Lebanon. I believe that would be Eleanor Bailey's expectation since she is the photographer that I saw year after year at the Mt. Lebanon Garden Party, the event that takes place the eve of the annual Mt. Lebanon Garden Tour.
The article,
Mt. Lebanon commissioners to vote on deer management quotes Manager Keith McGill,
“We know that removing deer from the population can be effective in reducing collisions,” said municipal manager Keith McGill. “It just comes down to what program is the right balance for each community. It is a very emotional and polarizing issue. The commission is focused more on deer vehicular collisions rather than the other impacts they have on the community.”
McGill's quote follows these two paragraphs:
Despite the elimination of deer, vehicular crashes with the animals have risen. In the six months tallied in 2016, with the exception of March, collisions have eclipsed each monthly amount of the past three years, according to the Mt. Lebanon Police Department.
While the goal to cut the 44 accidents that occurred in 2013 by half, the police department has already reported a number that has trumped that total, with 47 deer-related accidents already occurring this year.
Someone please explain how killing 219 deer and spending thousands of taxpayer dollars supports anything that Keith McGill said. It confirms what the anti-kill people have been saying all along. Killing deer results in more accidents because deer tend to bolt into streets and highways because they are frightened and are running for their lives.
Snake oil salesman and patent holder of apples and corn, Tony DeNicola wants another crack at killing deer this year, even though he left earlier than expected in March.
DeNicola said that if the decision is made to continue the controlled hunt – while being able to operate on the Twin Hills Park property, which is the subject of a lawsuit against the hunt filed by Scott Township – that the program will more successful than last year because of the hunters’ familiarity with the area.
Of course, the program will be more successful - for DeNicola. That is 25 acres of deer's natural habitat that was not available last year. Then it becomes a numbers game. More deer killed this time, so more deer need to be killed next time. I illustrated earlier that killing deer in Twin Hills, located in Scott Township, will have little impact in reducing collisions. See the first paragraph in my post,
Where are the car/deer collisions?
Mt. Lebanon uploaded a map today of the deer/car collisions in Mt. Lebanon from May 2011 - June 2016.
Keith McGill is right about something. It
is a very emotional and polarizing issue. Nothing is based on facts. It is not about reducing collisions because there is no supporting data. Killing deer in Twin Hills will only pacify the residents in Virginia Manor. That is what it is all about. And our snake oil salesman will make even more money off of Mt. Lebanon taxpayers. Remember, he was paid for his time and expenses every single time he made an appearance in front of the commission when brought in for advice. The corn and apples patent holder also convinced our commissioners not to believe the 2014 aerial survey which showed 196 deer. Aerial surveys are so accurate, they can even track the number of bucks and does in their reports. DeNicola left town early because he ran out of deer to kill.
There is a sucker born every minute, right Tony?
